Clothes drier



G. C. BROWN.

CLOTHES DRUIER.

APPLICATION FILI-:D ocT.Ia.19zI.

IIIQDIQII m12 SE!- I.

INVENTOR I ATTORNEY Patented ec. l2, i922.

with@ GROVEB C. BROWN, OF JOHNSTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA.

CLOTHES DRIER.

Application led October 18, 1921. Serial No. 503,482.

T o all w from t may concern.'

Be it known that I, Gnovna C. BROWN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of Johnstown, county of Cambria, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useiul Improvements in Clothes Driers; and I do hereby declare the following' to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to an apparatus for holding clothes and other textiles or similar articles for the purpose of drying them after washing, or for aerating the same, and is particularly adapted for use indoors, in kitchens, in laundries or on porches, but may also be used outdoors if desired.

My apparatus in general consists of a pair of guides or slideways which are mounted opposite and substantially parallel to each other on the walls of a room or elsewhere and are provided with carriages adapted to slide or roll up or down within the guides or slideways, and the carriages are provided with hooks or other means extending outwardly therefrom on which lines, either of fibrous material or wire, may be removably secured. The carriages are also provided with means for moving them up or down simultaneously for the purpose of carrying; the line upwardly after clothes are attached thereto and for lowering the same for the purpose of removing clothes or articles therefrom.

My apparatus may have one linev or may have a plurality of lines or a plurality of apparatus may fill a room or space more or less to provide lines sufficient to hold any desired quantity of material to be dried.

My carriages are provided with a flexible attachment and with the necessary sheaves around which it is rove, and a winding sheave or sprocket wheel provided with a hand crank whereby the carriages may beraised or lowered simultaneously', carrying the line with them, and I may also provide means for locking the line in position to prevent the weight thereon from lowering it.

Having thus given a. general description of. my invention, I will now, in order to make the matter more clear, refer to the annexed sheet of drawings, which form part of this specification, and in which like characters refer to like parts.-

Figure l is a vertical longitudinal ksectional elevation of my improved device, illustrating the application of'my invention; Figure 2 is a. transverse sectional elevation through one of the guides, boxes or housings taken on the line lI-II of Figure 3; Figure 3 is a front elevation of' one of the Quides or boxes; Figure a is a front. elevation of the other guide or box; Figure 5 is a transverse sectional elevation through two ruidos or boxes taken on the line V--V of Figure 3, and Figure 6 is a transverse sectional elevation through one of the guides of a slightly modified form. 4

Referringnow to the characters of reference on the drawings z-l represents the side walls oic a room or building to which my apparatus may be secured, but I wish it understood my apparatus may be supported otherwiseV if desired on convenient posts or other structures, either in or out of doors. 2 represents the ceiling of a room, 3 and i are the guides or boxes in which a part of the working portion of my apparatus is mounted and guided; these guides or boxes are provided with rear walls 5 and t, and 7 are the screws which' attach the boxes or guides to the walls of a room or other structure. The guides or boxes are provided with slots 9 in the front walls or closures 8 thereof, through which the hooks l2, secured to the carriages 10, are adapted to project in order to receive the line 18, which line may be either of librous material or wire and may or may not be provided with means for stretching same taut. lNithin these guides I mount the carriages 10, which are preferably provided with rollers ll to adord a rolling` contact with the front walls or closures of the boxes. These rollers l1 are provided to afford easy means for traversing the carriages within the. boxes. rlhe carriages are provided with a sprocket chain la, which is attached to the carriages as at l5 and passes around the sprocket wheel 16,

l l 11o I sprocket chain 14 need only be provided for the lower portion of the flexible member extending); from one oii'the carriages down and laround the sprocket wheel 16 and upwardly t be either a sprocket chain or upwardlyA and around the sheave 1.9,ithence across near the ceiling-oi the room or top of the apparatus and around the sheave 21 in the .opposite guide and thencel downwardly andsecured to the carriage inthe right hand box 1l. This iiexible member l-t may be continuous or any other flexible member may be rsecured to the right hand carriage in box 4, passing` downwardly and thence around the bottom sheave 25, thence upwardly `and around the sheave 22, thence acrossthejtop of the room and around thel sheave 2O and thence downwardly and secured to the left hand carriage 10 in the boxf. rThe iiexible member may be either continuous and secured to the two carriages, or it may he discontinuous and secured to two ends of each cariage.` I may also provide a pin 28 which lisadapted to be inserted through the hole in the side wall of the box 3 and thence inserted between portions oit a link of the sprocket chain, and when this in in position the apparatus will be locked to prevent its movement.

As illustrated in Figure 6, 29 is a carriage with two hooks 31, each of which is adapted to receivea line 13 secured thereto, thereby providing a `duplicate apparatus and more can be provided if desired. 30 are the rollers of the carriage which roll against the front closure 8. rl`hese hooks 81 pass through the slots 32 in the front walls of the box.

The operation of my apparatus is as follows:`,The line or lines 13, which are preferablv provided with looped ends withor without a thimble thereon, have these en ds on the' hooks 12 or 31. Thecarriages are lowered to a convenient position and height vabove the floor by turning the hand crank 17.

The clothes or other'material are placed in position on the line, secured by clothes pins or otherwise, and by turning` the crank 17 in proper direction the line 13 is moved upwardly carrying theclothes up or out of the ,wayand in proper position for drying. In order to hold the lines in position a pin'28 may he inserted in the hole provided therefor and in one of the links of the sprocket The other portion or' the flexible chain. Reversal of this operation will lower the clothes for their removal, after which others may be put in their place.

Instead of using a crank I may raise and lower my apparatus by pulling, the lines thereof, which may be exposed for this purpose, but I prefer to operate by the crank and sprocket wheel as previously explained. The crank 17 is also removable from the shaft 18 so it will be out of the way andk not interfere with the movement ot people in the neighborhood of the apparatus, and the same crank may be used on various shafts in case a plurality of driers are installed.

One of the particular features of my invention resides in the fact that the working' portions of my apparatus are neatlyenclosed in the boxes forming a sightly appearance and are also protected from dust and inaccessible to nersonswho might meddle with the mechanism..

It wil also be noted that my guides or boxes are practically a complete closure'tor thecontained apparatus, with the exception of the small narrow slots through which the ends of the hooks project, making a. neat-appearing construction.

By means of my arrangement the apparatus may be installed in a room or elsewhere and clothes raised to the proper heightso they will not interfere with persons in the roomr and will he in the best position for drying; and aerating.

It desired I may cover the exposed lines .-.ear the ceilingA by boxing or molding, but

this is not ordinarily necessary.

It should also be noted that I can have a numberk of lines attached to the same carriaece and operated by the same raising and lowcriirc, mechanism.

In arrangri my apparatus tor shipment. the 'flexible meynbers may he joined near the ceiling and special means YFor tyinga and adjusting to proper length will there be made, and this will also provide means for 'adjusting the lines thereafter ifslack develops from use. The guide boxes may also be easily attached to the walls of a room or other structure by removing the front closure 8, so that the screws Traa-y he driven, or a screw driver may be inserted through the slots 9 to drive the screws 7.

Although I have shown and described my invention inconsiderable detail, I do not wish to be limited to the exact and specific details thereof. as shown and described, but may use such. modifications in, substitutions for, or equivalents as pointed out in the claims.

Having. thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is y 1. Ina. clothes drier, a pair of substantially parallel box vsection Aguides spaced apart, each provided with a front closure, a

carriage mounted. in each guide and provided with rollers adapted to roll on said front closure and to be guided by said guide, an operating wheel provided with a hand crank, a line secured to and extending between said carriages arranged at substantially a right angle to the axes cf the rollers, a flexible connection secured to both carriages and passing around said operating wheel, and sheaves mounted in and near the ends of the guides over which said flexi ble connection passes, whereby said carriages may be positively traversed. up and down, in the boX guides simultaneously.

2. A clothes drier comprising a pair ot box-shaped guides, each provided with a trent closure, substantially parallel and spaced apart, a carriage mounted in each of said guides and provided with antidriction wheels adapted to bear and roll against the front closure of' said guide, a line secured to the opposite carriages and extending therebetween, a flexible connection secured to one of the carriages, a plurality of sheaves mounted in the guides around which the flexible connection passes as hereinafter den scribed, a drive wheel mounted in and near the lower end of one of' said guides and around which said flexible connection passes, thence upwardly past said carriage and around avsheave mounted in an d near the top ot said guide, thence across and over another sheave mounted in and near the top of the other guide, thence downwardly and secured to the opposite carriage, thence downwardly and around another sheave mounted in the guide, thence upwardly and around another sheave mounted in and near the top of the second guide, thence across to the other guide, and around another sheave mounted in and near the top thereof, thence downwardly and secured to the first named carriage, the drive wheel being provided with a crank, whereby said carriages may be moved upwardly and downwardly simultaneously.

3. In a clothes drier, a pair of guides of box-like construction arranged apart and spaced simultaneously parallel, each being provided with a removable front closure, a carriage mounted in'each guide provided with anti-friction rollers adapted to bear and roll on the inside of the front closure of the guide, a sprocket wheel mounted near the lower portion of one of the guides provided with an operating crank, a sprocket chain passing around said wheel one end of which is secured to the adjacent carriage and the other end provided with a flexible connection secured to the carriages, sheaves mounted in and near the ends of.' the `guides and over which sheaves the said flexible connection passes in such a manner that the revolution of the crank causes the two carriages to move upwardly or downwardly simultaneously.

il. A clothes drier comprising a pair of substantially parallel guides of boXv-like construction spaced apart, and provided with removable front closures, a carriage in each guide provided with anti-friction rollers adapted to bear and roll on the inside of the front closure of the guide, a slot extending longitudinally of the front closure of each guide, a hook mounted on each carriage and adapted to project through said slot, a line the ends of which are secured to said hooks, a sprocket wheel mounted near the lower portion of one of the guides and provided with an operating crank, a sprocket chain passing around said wheel one end of which is secured to the adjacent carriage and the other end provided with a flexible connection secured to the carriages, sheaves mounted within and near the ends of the guides over which the said flexible con nectlon passes in such a manner that the revolution of the crank causes the two carriages and the lines secured thereto to move upwardly and downwardly simultaneously.

ln witness whereof I hereunto afliX my signature.

GROVER C. BROWN. 

